Los Angeles Dodgers: 20 Greatest Players of the Brooklyn Era

We all know the story that Dodgers fans in New York still hate to hear retold. Before the 1958 season, the beloved, historic Brooklyn Dodgers franchise was moved to Los Angeles.

It's still one of the most painful relocations of a franchise in sports history, but at least the Brooklyn fanbase has a lot of good times and famous players to call their own.

Some of the best players in baseball history donned Brooklyn Dodgers uniforms, and this is my countdown of the 20 best from the pre-Los Angeles era.

20. Tommy Lasorda

I know, I know. He wasn't a great player. But besides Vin Scully and Jackie Robinson, Lasorda is by far the most iconic figure in Dodgers history, in either Brooklyn or Los Angeles.

He deserves some kind of recognition, and I can't think of any higher honor than being included in my slideshow, so here it is!

As a player, Lasorda was less than stellar, to say the least. I mean...he only played in eight games as a Dodger. But what Lasorda has done since is the stuff of legends. He's truly been one of the most important figures in baseball history.

19. Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax

Don't freak out! The reason I put the two Dodger aces on this list at No. 19 is similar to my inclusion of Lasorda. Neither played more than three seasons in Brooklyn before the Dodgers moved West. But they were so vital to the Dodger franchise no matter where the home stadium was, they had to be on this list.

We all know what they did throughout their careers in Dodger threads, but they had some moments in New York before the L.A. replaced the big, white B.

For example, Drysdale went 17-9 in the Dodgers' last season in Brooklyn (1957) with a 2.69 ERA, and Koufax struck out 122 batters in 104.1 innings the same year.

18. Leo Durocher

Durocher is another example of a guy who really made his Dodger legacy as a manager. But as a player, he had some decent attributes too.

As a Dodger, he was a two-time All-Star as a player/manager and made 50-RBI contributions here and there. In 1944, the Dodgers won 104 games under him and only finished under .500 in one season with Durocher at the helm.

While Durocher did win a World Series title with the dreaded Giants, he still holds a special place in Brooklyn Dodger lore.

17. Clem Labine

One of the players who held over from Brooklyn to Los Angeles was a right-handed pitcher named Clem Labine. He racked up some good numbers for the Dodgers.

In 11 years, he went 70-52 with a 3.63 ERA. But get this: He was a closer. Labine totaled 83 saves in his time with the Dodgers, before being a closer was really something that was a position in itself.

For his career, Labine had 96 saves, and his penchant for getting it done in pressure situations is what brought him two seasons with a combined 35 saves (remember, in the 1950s, that's a ton).

16. Johnny Podres

Podres only played four seasons in Brooklyn before transporting over to Los Angeles, but he was a great Dodger. He went 41-30 in Brooklyn, before going 136-104 in a combined career in both places.

In the last season in Brooklyn (remember Koufax and Drysdale had crazy numbers that year too), Podres posted a 2.66 ERA to go with 12 wins and a 1.08 WHIP. 

Podres was a three-time All-Star as a Dodger for his entire career. What he's most remembered for is his 1955 World Series performance when he went 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA. 

15. Carl Erskine

Here's another lesser-known guy who made a big contribution to the Brooklyn-era Dodgers. All but two of his 12 seasons in blue were spent in New York in the starting rotation. 

In 1952 and 1953, Erskine went a combined 34-12 with an ERA around 3.00. For his career, he had a pretty ridiculous winning percentage of .610.

Immediately following those two seasons, he made his only All-Star game in 1954 and, of course, joined the 1955 World Series team. 

14. Ralph Branca

Our run of pitchers continues with Branca, who made three straight All-Star games starting at age 21. He spent all his years with the Dodgers in Brooklyn, retiring a couple years before the big move.

He went 80-58 with a 3.70 ERA for the Dodgers, while dabbling with a few other teams along the way and winning eight more games. 

By far his best season came in 1947, when he went 21-12 with a 2.67 ERA. Unfortunately, Branca is best remembered for serving up Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World."

13. Preacher Roe

I knew Roe was really good, but when I researched his stats, I was blown away. His time in Brooklyn was unbelievable: Over seven years, he had 93 wins compared to only...wait for it...37 losses. Holy cow.

His .715 winning percentage is out of this world, but one season in particular really stands out. In 1951, at age 35, Roe went an astounding 22-3 with a 3.04 ERA.

One big shame in Roe's career is the year he retired. His last year as a Dodger was 1954, just one season before they won it all.

12. Carl Furillo

We finally break the run of pitchers with one of the most underrated Dodger outfielders of the Brooklyn era. Carl Furillo was an absolute monster at the dish. 

He was a career .299 hitter, and in 15 seasons with the Dodgers in both New York and California, he averaged 17 homers and 95 RBI. 

Furillo was a two-time All-Star, and despite never winning the MVP award, he got votes in eight different seasons. His best season came in 1953 when he hit .344 with 21 homers and 92 RBI.

11. Willie Keeler

Some of Willie Keeler's best years came in a Baltimore Orioles uniform, including in in 1897 when he hit an incredible .424. But that doesn't make his accomplishments as a Dodger any less amazing.

In five years with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he hit .352 and stole 130 bases. For his career, he hit .345 and fell just 45 hits shy of 3,000.

Keeler went into the Hall of Fame eventually, and it was well deserved. According to the Hall of Fame page in his honor, Ted Williams had high praise of Keeler: "He may have been small in size, but he was huge with the bat."

10. Burleigh Grimes

Burleigh Grimes had a lot of things going for him. First, the epic name. The fact that he was a spitballer. But he's also a Hall of Famer, repping the Brooklyn "B" on his plaque. 

In nine years for Brooklyn, Grimes used the spitball to his advantage, racking up a 158-121 record. His biggest claim to fame beyond the numbers is that Grimes was the last of the legal spitballers to play Major League Baseball.

See, in 1920, the spitball was outlawed league-wide, except for 17 pitchers who got "exemptions." Grimes definitely took advantage of being on that list, pitching for 14 more years with great success.

9. Dazzy Vance

In 12 years with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Dazzy Vance went 190-131 with a 3.17 ERA. He was rightfully inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1955 and even has the 1924 MVP award to his credit.

Vance was a workhorse, throwing 216 complete games in his career and almost 3,000 innings. Over 16 big league seasons, he posted over 2,000 strikeouts and almost 200 wins. 

From 1924-1925, Vance went a staggering 50-15 and posted an ERA under 3.00. In his MVP season, he was 28-6 with a 2.16 ERA and 262 strikeouts. Those are undoubtedly Hall of Fame numbers.

8. Don Newcombe

Newcombe had a fantastic career overall, but especially in Dodger blue. In 10 years in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, he won 123 games and posted a respectable 3.51 ERA.

Overall for his career, he went 149-90 and won all three major awards. In 1949, he was the National League Rookie of the Year, and he won the Cy Young and MVP in 1957. 

That 1957 season was absolutely ridiculous. Newcombe went 27-7 with a 3.06 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP en route to winning both awards.

7. Pee Wee Reese

Everyone knows about Pee Wee, Jackie Robinson's partner in crime. The 10-time All-Star was a career .269 hitter but was a spark at the top of the lineup for the Dodgers in a 16-year career.

He stole 232 bases and had over 2,000 career hits. The Veterans Committee inducted Reese into the Hall of Fame in 1984, naturally going in with the Brooklyn cap on his plaque.

In the playoffs for the Dodgers, Reese hit .272 with two homers and 16 RBI and amassed a .346 on-base percentage. The fan favorite struggled through all six of the Dodgers' World Series losses at the hands of the New York Yankees.

6. Joe Medwick

This 1968 Hall of Fame inductee was a two-time All-Star as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Though he only played five full seasons in blue, he left quite an impression while he was there.

Though Medwick went into Cooperstown as a Cardinal, he hit .303 in his time with the Dodgers with 38 homers and 293 RBI.

Most of Medwick's biggest years were in St. Louis, but Dodgers fans should be proud to have the 1937 Triple Crown winner counted among its alumni, as well as one of the better all-around outfielders from that era.

5. Gil Hodges

What does an average career line of .273, 29 homers and 100 RBI get you? A top-five spot on this list as greatest Dodgers of the Brooklyn era. 

Everybody loved watching Hodges play, and for good reason. The eight-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glover has been one of the biggest Hall of Fame snubs for years now, as he was not only the dominant first baseman of his time, but played the game with class and passion that was unmatched.

From 1949 through 1957, Hodges hit at least 27 home runs and drove in 87, though he peaked at 42 and 130, respectively. He also hit five career postseason home runs for the Dodgers and won two rings.

4. Roy Campanella

One guy who wouldn't be denied Hall of Fame enshrinement was Roy "Campy" Campanella, one of the most productive offensive catchers in baseball history.

He was selected to eight straight All-Star games in his 10-year career, and he averaged some pretty huge numbers. Campy hit .276 with an average of 32 homers and 114 RBI over his career in Brooklyn.

In 1969, he was named on almost 80 percent of ballots for Cooperstown, probably largely due to his three MVP awards. Perhaps Campanella's most underappreciated number is his career caught stealing percentage of 57. 

3. Zack Wheat

Wheat is a surprisingly lesser-known Dodger legend, despite his bust being in Cooperstown and a career .317 batting average. My best guess is that people don't care to look back this far: Wheat played all but one of his 19 big league seasons with Brooklyn, from 1909-1927.

He also averaged 84 RBI per year and could run a little bit, stealing 205 career bases. He had over 200 hits in a season three times, and he hit at least .359 with an on-base percentage over .400 three straight years from 1923-1925.

Though Wheat never won any major awards or took home any rings, he was one of the most complete players to ever put on a Brooklyn uniform, and definitely one of the biggest fan draws.

2. Jackie Robinson

It was only a matter of time until you saw No. 42 on this list, but some might be surprised to see him not on top. You'll understand when you see who number one is. Not only did Robinson break the color barrier in Major League Baseball, he was one of the most electrifying athletes to ever set foot on the diamond.

Jackie had a .983 career fielding percentage at three different positions and retired in 1956 as a 10-year Dodger veteran with a .311 career average, 137 homers, 734 RBI, 197 stolen bases (against only 30 times being caught) and nearly 1,000 runs.

In 1962, Robinson was inducted into the Hall of Fame, but his legacy goes far beyond the bronze plaque. If not for the bravery of Jackie, we might not be seeing great players in the big leagues today like Matt Kemp and CC Sabathia. 

Robinson is the only player whose jersey is retired by every team in baseball.

1. Duke Snider

Could it be anyone else besides Duke? In 16 glorious years with the Dodgers (in both Brooklyn and L.A.), Snider hit .300 with 389 home runs and 1,271 RBI. For his career, he averaged a hearty .295/31/101 line.

A seven-time All-Star with the Dodgers, Snider also had a .384 career on-base percentage, including a high of .423 in 1954. He fell five hits shy of 2,000 for his career and led the league with 136 RBI in the Dodgers' 1955 World Series season.

In the postseason, Snider hit .286 with a hefty 11 home runs and 26 RBI over 36 games. He was a two-time champion, including the '55 season when he launched four homers in a seven-game series against the Yankees. 

Snider was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980, garnering 87 percent of the vote.